Jay Cutler is a free agent and Ryan Tannehill is the Dolphins’ starter — really

Channeling his inner Lovie Smith, Miami Dolphins coach Adam Gase insisted that Ryan Tannehill is his starting quarterback.

What does that mean for former Bears quarterback Jay Cutler?

Cutler, the Dolphins’ primary starting quarterback in 2017 while Tannehill recovered from a knee injury, is a free agent with dwindling options.

Cutler turns 35 on April 29 and it’s difficult to imagine another coach having as much interest as Gase, who was once Cutler’s offensive coordinator with the Bears.

“Ryan is going to be our starting quarterback,” Gase told reporters at the NFL scouting combine. “And I don’t see that changing anytime soon. And I think that when we get back out there in spring and get going, I just know it’s going to be really good to have him back.”

Gase couldn’t have helped matters for Tannehill’s confidence by suggesting that the Dolphins would “like to draft a quarterback every year.” The Dolphins have the 11th pick in the first round.

“”Ryan would never shy away from anybody coming in at that position,” Gase said.

Come to think of it, the Bears do need a veteran quarterback to backup Mitch Trubisky in 2018 after the team announced that the Mike Glennon era has finally come to an end.

No, that’s never gonna happen.

One side note to Cutler’s stay with the Dolphins. After he signed that one-year, $10 million deal to replace Tannehill last season, Cutler spent his entire stay in Miami at a hotel.

“I did get the points,” he told the Miami Herald.

With the Dolphins, Cutler started 14 games and passed for 2,666 yards with 19 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.